Christmas Project Year #2

Okay people, my computer has been struggling and I have not been able to post pictures. I am trying to get the kinks worked out. I really want you all to share the wonderful moments we had as a family wrapping this Cancer story all up, at Disneyworld. This post, however, is not about me or my family. It is now the season for another service project and I have the perfect one this year. We have been so blessed throughout our trial and it is now time to PAY IT FORWARD. We have talked before about our dear sweet Lizzie Lu. She has been so sick, had long hospital stays, test after test, trying to find out what is wrong with her frail little body. To check out her story go to WWW.GRATEFULME-ALLY.BLOGSPOT.COM. Elizabeth Noel is one of the most beautiful, witty, fashionista-istic, people I know. She has a smile that can light up a room. She is an identical twin and has been pretty sick since she was born. Her sister Katie is no less wonderful than she is. She is an amazing, beautiful, scientist. She misses the time away from her sister during hospital stays and she is so loyal and takes great care of their spunky, hockey loving brother Jacks. SO...with incredibly high medical bills, and little sleep things can be stressful. Our family knows this quite well. We would love for the Noel family to be able to enjoy their Christmas. I would love to get some monetary donations along with some other fun items. Liz loves France, and fashion, she loves zebra print, and accessories. Katie loves peace signs, and science. Jacksy loves hockey and baseball, and cars. The family loves Disneyland. Ally, their mom, is like Supermom. She gives to so many people. Donates her time and her love to children in the hospital and needs some pampering. She loves accessories and feeling beautiful. It is hard for me to watch other moms going through what I did. It is so hard to give all of yourself to everyone and watch your child suffer for so long. This family deserves some love and some true Christmas spirit and love. Please go to the Paypal button for the Elizabeth Noel Fund on the sidebar and donate what you can. If you would like to send gifts, cards, treats, etc contact me at GOOCHYMOMMA@GMAIL.COM for address. I appreciate all of your love and support.

Preface to Orlando

HELLO!

weird to see me blogging isn't it!?! I am trying to get all of our pictures of Orlando together and my laptop is just too slow so i will have to do it on our home computer. I will post our first and second day of Orlando tomorrow. We had such a fabulous time. We were well taken care of and had such a great time with our whole Gooch family. Life is crazy for us right now (what's new!). We are hoping to be moving soon, we may have some career changes, and i start nursing school in January! And this is all on top of the holidays fast approaching. Spencer recently had his six month scans.

There were no spots anywhere! Scar tissue is even to small to pick up on CT. I am trying to embrace winter this year and today was the first test! I enjoyed watching the snow as i stayed warm and comfortable in my home. The end of the year is always a little scary because benefits are done for the year. Although we do not have the same expenses as we have the last two years we will still continue to have pricey scans and tests done, including physical therapy for the next 4 years! Yikes!

See you tomorrow!

Golf Tournament Benefit

I cannot emphasize enough how wonderful our friends are. I have been blessed with many many quality friends. Nate too, has the same quality in his friends. One of his mission companions (from way back in the day, lol) lives in Idaho and has put a lot of work into organizing this fundraiser for our family. It is going to be in Eagle, Idaho right next to Boise and Meridian. If you live nearby or are heading up that way or would like to be a part of it we would love to see you there. Here is the info:

SUPER SPENCE CHARITY GOLF TOURNAMENT

Eagle Hills Golf Course
605 North Edgewood Lane
Eagle, Idaho 83616
SEPTEMBER 30, 2011 @ 2:00 P.M.

Shotgun start - 4 man best ball
$65 per person or $260 per team Includes 18 holes of golf, a cart and food provided after the tournament!
Mulligan tickets $5 each at registration - will double as raffle tickets. (Raffle will be at the conclusion of the tournament)
Prizes - Closest to the Pin and Longest Drive for both men and women


PAY VIA PAYPAL THROUGH THIS BLOG
OR CONTACT JARED JACOBS
jaredjacobs@live.com

Healing

Have you ever felt wonderfully grateful yet feel bits of sadness lingering near your soul? Last week a woman contacted me via email. She is the aunt of a beautiful 8 year old girl who was just recently diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma. She has tumors in her groin, under her knee, and on her foot. It seems to have metastasized to her lungs. This aunt has been asking me some questions about it all. It seems that the doctors have been vague in their explanations. They do not live in Utah and are not going to PCMC. I have grown an attachment to this sweet little girl that I have never seen or met. My heart has so much sorry for her mother, who is a cancer survivor herself, colon cancer, nonetheless. How terrifying to watch you child bare the pains that you know so well yourself. That to me is pure hell. Talking with this family I feel so grateful. So grateful for our experiences. So grateful for our miracles. So grateful for our hospital. So grateful to all of you and for all of the prayers we have received. This is the first time since our clean bill of health that I have been really able to stand face to face with our experience, without anguish and anxiety. Today is a beautiful overcast, rainy day. The kind of day that brings tranquility to my existence. I have a lot of happiness in my life. I am a changed woman. I will never be who I was before this and I am thankful for our trials and this journey. I feel that it is now my calling in life to be a nurse and to work again with these beautiful children and families. I have so much to offer them. Next to the soon gained skills, I have the compassion, the love and the optimism that these children and families need. It warms my heart to think that I can touch the lives of others in their fight, through life and through death. I love my life.

I Have Returned

I took a much needed emotional break from this blog but it is calling me back again. There are still so many things during this journey that I have not posted and I would love to share all of the great things in our lives currently. We have been searching for a home and have a couples of offers in and are hoping to be moving by the beginning of next year. I also got an email from SLCC saying that I had been chosen to start the nursing program Spring semester 2012 which starts Jan. 9th! I have played this event in my mind over and over. I have gone back and forth in the decision that would be best for me and my family. After Spencer was diagnosed and things got so emotional and I felt so guilty for neglecting Belle and Gavin I thought that there was no going back. How could I leave my kids again for 2 full years to go back to school? Well here I was faced with this major decision. It was now or never. I felt distressed all day. I prayed about it. I talked with Nate. I talked with friends who are nurses. I decided that evening that I was going to go back. The moment I made this decision I was at peace. I knew that this was the best thing for my family. Spence was not super thrilled at first but I told him that I was interested in working in pediatric oncology. That made him excited. So here we are in September. We leave for Disneyworld in about 3 weeks. If things go as planned with the home we want we will be moving shortly after we get back from our trip, the holiday will then be upon us and the start of school. Craziness in the Gooch home. I mentioned to a friend that the next 2 years will be crazy for us and she responded with "because the last 2 weren't enough for you". Well played Kerilyn. Well played. I have been packing up the things that we don't absolutely need now. I was going through a box and I found a letter from Nate one day short of 4 months that we had been dating. It made my day. I love my husband. I am so thankful that I get to spend eternity with some one like him. I thought I would share the letter with you. I am so lucky to have a sweet hunk-a-hunk of burning love! Click on the pictures to read the letter.

Samantha's Fundraiser

I have not posted for quite some time. I have had a lot of thoughts but I have been so busy. I thought that this would be a good post for my first post back in a while. This is for a girl in our community. I would encourage all who can make it to please do. I find it interesting that a lot of these kids are 7 years old.

Other Life

I don't know why I decided I was strong enough to read some of my older posts. I don't know why I have let myself push these memories down, down down. I don't know why my soul aches. I don't know why other moms have to go through this. I don't know why. It seems like another life time ago but the wounds are still a little raw. Healing scabs being pulled off, creating scars. Scars are meant to help us remember. Why don't I want to remember. Why is this part as painful as the injury? Things, life, seems so normal now but moments of anxiety ache in my heart. Don't forget who you are and where you came from. Do not forget the obstacles and the road blocks, they are meant to create a stronger person of who you once were. I had memories tonight of spending what seemed like endless nights in a hospital room. Cold, lonely, and scared. I am thankful for warmth and faith and love. Did we really live this other life? This other life filled with pain and agony, growth and strength? Did we really live out of suitcases and hospital cafeterias for over a year? Did I really have to leave my children to save the life of the other? Are these real things that happened to us? I desperately pray that I never have to live this other life again. My heart cries for the mothers who are living it now. Miracles happen. Death happens. Love happens. Faith happens. Life happens. God lives. He holds our hand, He carries us through the storm and through the calm. Never forget these things.

Family Vacation Day: Seven

We started the day off going to an Angels game in the EXTREME HEAT! It was so hot and humid. The usher told us to go into some empty shaded seats because ours were in the sun and it was "too damn hot" he said. He was like an 80 year old man and it was funny to hear him say that. I usually love a good baseball game but it was just so hot. We only ended up staying until the 8th inning but we had a fun time eating sunflower seeds and watching the game. It was a good thing we left early because we made it just in time to Valencia right when we were expected and we didn't want to be late for TEAM SPENCER L.A.


















First off I need to try to explain how incredibly wonderful the Stevens family is. Gina is the one who distributed the Super Spence shirts and bracelets and had them designed. She spent a whole bunch of her own time doing this for our family. I knew Gina many years ago when she was a young single mom going to school. She had one daughter , Mckayla, who I used to babysit and I have many fun memories of these girls. I had not been in contact with Gina until maybe three months before Spencer had been diagnosed. I was so happy that she had found me on Facebook, and little did I know that she would continue to be such a huge part of my life and my family's lives. She lent a listening ear and an open heart throughout this trial and I can truly say that I love this woman and her family. She organized "TEAM SPENCER L.A." who sent us several huge care packages and walked relays in our name. Gina is one of my angels. She has touched our family more deeply than she will ever know. It was so great to be reunited with her and to have Nate and the kids meet her and the family for the first time. We had a bbq, the kids swam in the pool all day and night, and we had great conversation with several other Team Spencer L.A. supporters! It was a wonderful night and we are so excited to be able to see them again!


We pulled up to the house to have these awesome banners on the garage. The love never ends!
Swimming.

This is just such an awesome bunch of people. Strangers who supported and loved us.


The most awesome Stevens family!

Family Vacation Day: Six. Montage Beach

Almost paradise. Have you ever been to an absolutely perfect place that exudes only beauty and happiness? Montage in Laguna is that place for me. For any of you who thinks that California is overrated (and don't live in Hawaii or another tropical place) I will have to say you are totally wrong. This is happiness for me. The best part of this day for me was spending it with my two best friends and their families. I hope you are all lucky enough to have friends that you can share moments like these with. I love the kids like my own and I love these girls more than I can even explain. This day was the perfect day for me. I will warn you there are many pictures to follow but they are beautiful.